Younger Sisters
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: After sixteen years, Nessarose and Elphaba find out that they have a sister that was adopted at birth. Autumn discovers that she was once a Thropp sister and is Nessa's twin sister. When the three girls reunite at Shiz, how will the story change?
1. Prologue: Adopted

**A/N: My first full-length story that includes Shiz-era! This is about Nessa's twin sister Autumn who was adopted at birth. She navigates her way through Shiz and befriends her two biological sisters, but when Elphaba decides to fight the Wizard, Autumn is torn between her twin sister and older sister.**

**Me: Disclaimer, please! Where is it?**

**Autumn: It's...uh...**

**Me: Tell me!**

**Nessa: *sighs* She should get over that silly little crush she has.**

**Me: Oh...I get it... *writes another disclaimer* I guess we can't get it, so anyway, I do not own anything except Autumn. This goes for the whole story.**

"What?" I exclaimed, half-surprised, half-outraged. OK, so maybe I was overreacting, but I'd just been told I was adopted by the family I'd thought was biologically mine for _sixteen _years.

"Calm down, honey." my adopted mom said. "I just thought your life would be easier if you didn't know. But now you're starting at Shiz University in two weeks, a couple of years younger than usual, you should probably be aware, because your biological sisters are going there too."

This caught my attention. "Tell me about my real family, please." I said, intrigued by the family I'd never known.

"Well," Mom said. "When you and your twin sister, Nessarose Thropp, were born, your mother, Melena Thropp, was killed in childbirth. You were born first. We thought you wouldn't be able to walk," (I've had to use crutches all my life) "But it wasn't as bad as we first thought. Your twin had a more severe condition, and most likely has to use a wheelchair. Your father, who was – is - the governor of Munchkinland, didn't think he could handle both of you girls and your elder sister, so he put you up for adoption."

"Some father." I muttered. "Able to look after two girls and not three." I regained composure and asked "What is my older sister like? What's her name?"

Mom looked away for a moment. "She's...different." she finally said. "I only saw her once, and she was only little. Oh, and her name's Elphaba. You'll see when you meet her."

"What do you mean, she's different?" I demanded. "I should be prepared to meet her."

Mom's eyes flickered around the room. "You'll see. It's hard to explain." I frowned, but didn't press the issue further.

However, when I got to my room, I looked up Frexspar Thropp, governor of Munchkinland, but it didn't bring up anything about my sisters. I'd just have to wait until I got to Shiz.

**Sorry it's so short, but don't worry, the other chapters will be longer! Oh, and review, please. I spend all my time writing, and all for the reviews.**


	2. Chapter 1: Shiz

**Here's the official Chapter 1! Thanks for reviews, WickedSuperFan, James Birdsong and christinesangel100. Enjoy!**

I spent the last two weeks before I went to Shiz, preparing for my classes and meeting my sisters. I didn't know what they would be like. Finally, the day came, and I felt unbearably nervous.

"Bye, Autumn, honey!" called Mom. (Yeah, my name is Autumn. My twin sister is a velvety flower and I'm a crunchy leaf. Great.) I waved as she left me to join the rest of the students, who were in the hall. I swung myself along on my crutches, and immediately spotted a group of students, not much older than me. Most of the students were crowding around a small blonde girl dressed in white. None of them noticed me, the tallish younger girl on crutches. I looked to see if there was a girl in a wheelchair or a girl who looked somehow 'different' (as Mom had said) but everyone looked pretty much regular, and none of them seemed to have any walking difficulty.

I spent about five minutes feeling like a fifth wheel until another girl walked in. She was tall and while she wasn't exactly pretty, I liked the way she looked. But the way she dressed seemed to have taken away most of her good qualities. She had braided her black hair, and wore a navy shapeless dress. To make matters worse, she didn't seem to be in a very good mood. Although...she had good reason, because everyone was staring at her. The one feature you first noticed about her was her skin. It was a strange but oddly pretty shade of green.

The girl scowled even more. "What?" she demanded. "What are you all looking at?" No one was brave enough to speak. "Oh, do I have something in my teeth?" Still nothing. "Alright, fine, we may as well get this over with. No, I'm not seasick, yes, I've always been green, no, I didn't eat grass as a child!" She got a little louder at each word.

"Elphaba!" The next voice came from a man that had walked in, and in a flash of realization, I knew that the green skin was the difference that Mom had mentioned. I looked at this sister, and felt guilty about staring at her earlier.

After the man, who was obviously her father, had walked in, another girl followed, and seeing her was more surprising than my first glimpse of Elphaba. The second girl was using a wheelchair to move. Her eyes met mine across the hall, and all I could see in her eyes was...well, _me. _

Elphaba turned to gesture to the other girl. "This is my younger sister, Nessarose. As you can see, she is a perfectly _normal _colour-"

"Elphaba, stop making a spectacle of yourself!" Her father ordered. "Remember, I'm only sending you to this school for one reason."

"I know, to look after Nessa." I looked at my sisters and my real father, realizing that it looked like they weren't the most functional of families. One daughter was green-skinned, the other couldn't walk, their mother had passed away, and their father obviously favoured the younger one.

I watched as he gave Nessarose a parting gift. "Jeweled shoes!" she breathed, slipping them on.

He snapped the box they came in shut, turning to his elder daughter. "Take care of your sister." he said. "And try not to talk so much." His eyes flickered in my direction for one moment, and I thought I saw something, just before he left.

"Elphaba..." Nessarose began, realizing how much the favouritism would've hurt her sister.

"Well, what could he get me?" Elphaba shrugged. "I clash with everything."

That was when the headmistress of Shiz swept in. I remembered from the Shiz brochures that she was called Madame Morrible, and as she introduced herself to the students, I could see I remembered correctly. She was just about to give us our room assignments, but got distracted when the blonde girl asked about her sorcery seminar. I found that the girl's name was Galinda Upland. As soon as she spoke, I winced. Her voice was so high-pitched and perky, and I wondered if that was always how her voice sounded. I wouldn't be surprised if Madame dismissed her later because her voice was so annoying.

She noticed Nessarose soon after. "You must be the governor's daughter!" Madame exclaimed. "Miss Nessarose, isn't it? What a tragically beautiful face you have!" She jumped when she saw Elphaba. "Who are you?"  
"I'm the other daughter, Elphaba. I'm beautifully tragic." my older sister said dryly.

"Yes, well, I"m sure you're very...bright." Mme said with difficulty.

"Bright?" exclaimed the girl called Galinda. "She's phosphorescent!" Some of the other students giggled, but I didn't. Ever since I'd walked in, all Galinda had done was show off and act like she thought she was the centre of the universe. Even if I was younger than her, I wasn't going to let her insult my sister, even if we hadn't even spoken.

I walked up to Galinda, and found that I was actually taller than her. "Shut up!" I hissed. "You think you can get away with thinking you're wonderful while insulting other people in that way? As long as I'm around, you can forget about it!"

Suddenly, Galinda was flanked by two pretty brunettes. All three girls wore the same comtemptous expression, except Galinda looked a little more like a spoilt child.

"Well, you don't get away with treating Galinda like that!" one of the brunettes said.

"I personally cannot believe that someone would say something like that to a beautiful girl like Miss Galinda!" said a boy's voice behind me. I turned around to see a boy with a height that let me know he was a Munchkin. I huffed and stalked away from that group, only to see Nessarose watching me. Her lips quirked upward into a tiny smile, and I knew she'd noticed me sticking up for Elphaba.

Don't ask me how it happened, but two minutes later, Elphaba was told that she would be staying with Galinda. Elphaba wasn't on Mme's list, and Galinda had a private suite, so they got unlucky. I could tell this wasn't gonna go well.

At this time, Mme noticed me. "Oh, you are Miss Autumn? Yes, you are requested to be staying with Miss Nessarose by your family. You will be able to help each other, I believe?"

"Thank you, Madame." I said politely.

"But Madame, I've always looked after my sister." Elphaba protested.

Mme wasn't listening. "Everyone to your domitories!" She began wheeling Nessarose in the direction of where our room was.

"_Let her go!_" As Elphaba spoke, the lights seemed to dim. Nessarose's wheelchair began to move nearer to where Elphaba was standing, and I felt dizzy.

"What was that?" I exclaimed. I didn't know what had happened, but I swung myself over to where my sisters were.

"How did she do that?" exclaimed Galinda.

Everything went by in a blur. Elphaba was signed up to Mme's sorcery seminar for doing that. According to her, it was a show of sorcery talent. Mme even said that if Elphaba worked well enough, she might end up working with the Wizard of Oz himself. Everyone knew of him, and that was a big thing. It was obvious that Elphaba felt the same way.

Galinda, on the other hand, was shocked that she wasn't in the sorcery seminar while Elphaba was. "Something's wrong..." I overheard her murmuring to herself. "I didn't get my way." She looked faint. "I think I need to lie down." I shot her a glare mixed with guilty triumph, and walked away.

**Review, please. In the next chapter, Autumn will start to get to know people at Shiz.**


	3. Chapter 2: Sister, Friend

**Next chapter. I hope you like it! And for the person who reviewed, worried about the way I'm portraying G(a)linda, don't worry. I honestly think Galinda is self-centered at this stage, but around the time she becomes friends with Elphaba, she'll be shown in a better light. Thanks for reviewing, and also thanks to James Birdsong, wickaholic, and WickedSuperNerd.**

It was late afternoon when Nessarose and I got into our room. It had two single beds, and I immediately lounged on mine. Nessarose easily used her hands to pull herself onto her own bed and mirror my position.

"So," she began. "You're Autumn. I knew who you were when I first saw you. Father told me I had a sister that had been adopted and that she was coming here."

"My adopted mom told me about you and Elphaba too." I answered. "But I wasn't prepared to see someone who looked so much like me."

"We don't look completely alike." my twin sister pointed out. "Your hair is slightly straighter than mine. And people will be able to tell us apart, with you having crutches, and me in the wheelchair." She sighed. "I envy you, being able to walk."

"You're not really missing out." I assured her. "It's not just the crutches. Even though I can walk with them, I get tired easily."

"Did Elphaba know I'm her other sister?" I asked.

Nessa shrugged. "Maybe. It takes her a while to get used to things like this. Don't tell her I said this, but I think she has some kind of weird problem being around people."

I remembered her outburst when she first walked in, and pointed out "It's not easy for her, with her skin and that."

"She doesn't have to do that, though." Nessa sighed. "It's not easy for me, either. I mean, I love my sister, of course. She's wonderful as an older sister, but she has never made friends easily."

"Well, I'll just have to try talking to her." I said.

I got my chance the next day. I walked happily along to the dining hall with Nessa, and just as I got my bowl of cereal, I ran into Elphaba.

"Um...hi." I said. Her dark brown eyes took me in, and then she spoke.

"Hello." she said. "And by the way, I do know you're the sister Father told Nessa about. Autumn, was it? I could tell anyway, you look so much like Nessa on crutches."

I smiled at my older sister. "Yes, that's me. I was _so _excited to know I had two sisters, even though I don't know you yet. Oh well, I guess we have years to get to know each other, even if I'm the youngest in the classes. I'll see you later, -is it OK if I call you El?"

"I'd rather you didn't shorten my name." Elphaba said seriously.

"OK, whatever." I shrugged. "I better have my cereal and get ready for class. See you, Elphaba."

Days and weeks passed and I soon knew about the social structure of Shiz and hated it. Galinda was right at the top of the social heap. By yelling at her on the first day, I'd pretty much screwed up my chances at popularity. But on the plus side, Elphaba despised Galinda intensely, and Galinda returned her feelings, so at least that would be good for our relationship. It took me about a week to forge any type of friendship with her, not because either of us were shy, but because Elphaba was a moody type of person. She wasn't mean or self-centred, just depressed and closed-up. She'd accepted me as a sister, but still didn't seem to know what to make of me. I didn't mind so much, and just let our friendship develop at its own pace.

On the other hand, I could have spent my whole life with Nessarose as my sister for all the difference it made. The same amount of time I'd spent making friends with Elphaba at all saw us being best friends. We pretty much went around together nearly all of the time. I soon began shortening her name to Nessa, the way Elphaba did.

As the days went by, life fell into a routine. I learnt that Galinda's brunette friends I met on the first day were called ShenShen and Pfannee. While Galinda had other friends, those two were the ones she kept close. Not only that, but she had an admirer watching her most of the time; the Munchkin boy that stuck up for her when I yelled at her on the first day. His name was Boq, and I happened to know he was one of the smartest in my classes, though if Elphaba was in the same class as him, he only came second in grades. Elphaba was top in all of her classes. As for me and Nessa, we were on about the same level. We didn't really do badly, but not as well as our sister. We were better than each other in different classes. At least, we did do better than Galinda and her friends. Unlike me, though, Nessa had a few other friends around, since she hadn't been the one that yelled at Galinda.

One day in history class, a very amusing scene took place, before something shocking. I was sitting with Nessa. As usual, Elphaba was at the front by herself, wearing reading glasses, and Galinda was surrounded by her friends. Our history teacher was the only Animal teacher on campus-a Goat called Dr Dillamond. Anyway, he was handing back some essays we had done. "I am amazed with the progress." he was saying. "Although, some of us still tend to favour form over content." He looked at Galinda. "Miss Glinda."

"It's GAlinda," the girl corrected. "With a Ga."

But however hard he tried, Dr Dillamond seemed to be unable to pronounce Galinda's name right. I don't know why she seemed so bothered by it, but it was Elphaba who finally got annoyed with her and turned to snap "Maybe pronouncing your precious name isn't the sole purpose of Dr Dillamond's life. Maybe he's not like every other professor, maybe some of us are different."

"You are _so _self-centred, _Glinda._" I added. "What does it matter whether your name is pronounced correctly by every single person you meet? Try having another accent and being unable to pronounce your own name correctly. Maybe then you'll be a little nicer, but not by much." I smirked.

Galinda glared at both me and Elphaba. "It seems the artichoke is steamed." she joked cruelly, making the other students giggle, with Elphaba being the victim. She, of course, acted like she didn't care, as she always did with Galinda's jabs. I, however, wasn't going to let Galinda get away with this.

"Another thing!" I shot back at her. "Stop judging by appearances. I'll tell you why. I might have crutches, but it doesn't make me weak. Elphaba might have green skin, but that doesn't make her different in any other way. She is an average Ozian, just like any of us. You're pretty, but it doesn't make you nice. However, you're blonde, and you are an airhead, so that's correct."

Galinda flushed, but she recovered swiftly. "Why hasn't anyone raked up the leaves yet?" she asked pointedly, again being cruel. "I'm sure crutches can be used as rakes."

"Class!" called Dillamond. "Both Miss Elphaba and Miss Autumn are making valid points. As Miss Elphaba has said, I am different, being the only Animal professor on the facility. But Miss Autumn is correct. It wouldn't have seemed so strange before, when there were many Animals teaching, but now I look different from all others, but it doesn't necessarily mean things are any different from back then. Oz is now much less colourful. Who can tell me why this is?"

Elphaba raised her hand. "It all started with the Great Drought?"

It went on, until Dillamond turned the board around. On it was painted a message: _Animals should be seen and not heard._

"Oh my Oz!" I whispered to Nessa. "Who would do that?"

"I don't know." my sister whispered back. "Not that it's OK to think that way, but they don't need to express it that way."

Dr Dillamond was so shaken he ended the lesson. Elphaba stayed behind as the rest of us walked out. As I left, I just caught him telling her she should catch up with her friends instead of saying, and Elphaba answering casually "Oh, that's alright, I have no friends."

"She needs to have some friends." I told Nessa when we were chilling in our room just before Lights Out. "Some her own age. I count her as a friend and sister, but family can't take the place of friends."

Nessa sighed. "I know, but this always happens. She's never had anyone around except me-and I can't hang around her all the time. I have other friends too...although I can tell that the majority of them just feel sorry for me."

"Amazing!" I teased. "No one's ever felt sorry for me, and I'm just like you. Weird, isn't it, how a wheelchair can gain sympathy and crutches can't?"

Nessa smiled wanly at my weak attempt of a joke. "I guess so."

**OK, well, we've gone through the first bit of the story. Next we'll have "Dancing Through Life" so stay tuned for Fiyero's first appearance, and review! *Fangirly squeal***


	4. Chapter 3: Dancing On Crutches

**As promised, Fiyero makes his first appearance here. Thanks to reviewers WickedSuperNerd and James Birdsong.**

It had been about a month and three weeks when a new student arrived. I was lazing around in the courtyard, alone. As the carriage came in super-fast, I spotted Elphaba jumping out of the way, and her telling the student to watch where he was going. As the boy stepped off the carriage and smirked as he answered Elphaba, I recognized him from the only teen magazine I read. He was Fiyero Tiggular, a Winkie prince. As far as I remembered, he had a reputation for breaking hearts and getting kicked out of schools across Oz. I could see that live, he was just as hot as I had heard. I decided to go and join some of the other students talking to him, although I inwardly groaned when I realized that they were Galinda and Boq.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" Fiyero was asking.

"Nothing really..." Galinda said vaguely.

"We've been studying!" Boq supplied.

Fiyero grinned. "Well, I see that once again, the task to corrupt my fellow students falls to me. Fortunately, I'm up for the task."

"As in..." I quickly asked.

"Well, you see, the trouble with schools is they always try to teach the wrong lesson." Fiyero began to explain. "Believe me, I've been kicked out of enough of them to know."

"Maybe you just need it taught a different way." I teased, somehow able to speak. "Like, school isn't all about parties and screwing around with girls, hint hint."

Fiyero gave another smile, this time actually looking at me. "I see you've been reading up. Now that type of studying is the right type, and girls who study the right things are appealing." ('Stay cool, stay cool' I chanted frantically in my head. I couldn't embarrass myself while the hottest guy in Oz was around!) "But as I was saying, they want you to become less callow, less shallow, but I say why invite stress in? Stop studying strife!" He said this, glancing at Boq. "Learn to live the unexamined life. Just dance through life, like me." He went on with a whole monologue about 'dancing through life.' It ended in him organizing a party at the Ozdust Ballroom.

"Miss Galinda?" Boq said to the blonde as I hovered. "I hope you'll save at least one dance for me. I'll be right there, waiting all night."

"Oh, that's so kind." Galinda said sweetly, not paying much attention. "But you know what would be even kinder?" She glanced over at Nessa, who was entering the courtyard. "See the tragically beautiful girl in the chair? It seems so unfair that we can go, and she can't. Whoever invites her would be my hero."

"Maybe I could invite her." Boq offered, predictably.

"Oh, Biq, really?" Galinda said. She was putting on a pretty good act, in spite of getting Boq's name wrong. "You would do that for me?"

"I would do _anything _for you, Miss Galinda." Boq said. I pretended to gag and Boq glared at me, muttering under his breath, "Let's hope your sister is nicer," as he went to ask Nessa to the party.

I knew I should've been OK, not disappointed when Fiyero asked Galinda, but I did. I tried to convince myself that I didn't want a scandalacious guy playing with my heart, but however much of a player he was, he was unbelievably hot and that one smile he threw in my direction threatened to melt me. That and the comment about being appealing cause I was doing the 'right' type of studying.

Nessa and I got ready for the party together. She was thrilled to bits that Boq had asked her to the party, never suspecting that he only asked her as a favour to Galinda, although she knew Galinda had asked him to ask her. I didn't have the heart to burst her bubble, and just smiled sadly as we did each other's hair and and our own makeup.

"I don't want to hear you say anything against Galinda again!" Nessa said as she put mascara on. "She was kind enough to prompt Boq into asking me. We totally deserve each other!"

"I know." I muttered. She'd been carrying on in the same vein since Boq asked her to the party. "But I'll try to give Galinda more of a chance and be more friendly." I lied.

Elphaba was pretty scathing about the party, calling it a "cultish social gathering" and wasn't amused at whatever had happened when the carriage nearly ran her over. Just before I went to the party, I saw Galinda running up to Elphaba, wearing a pink ruffly dress, with a pink rose in her hair, perfect makeup, and newly washed and dried hair, hanging in the natural blonde ringlets. I felt a little jealous. How come a totally catty girl like Galinda could look so pretty?

"I was just talking about you!" Galinda said breathlessly, holding out a black conical hat. "I thought you might want to wear this hat to the party tonight. It's really, uh, sharp, don't you think? Black is, after all, this year's pink! You and this hat deserve each other, you're both so...smart. Here," she pushed it at my older sister. "Out of the goodness of my heart." Then she skipped off. I could see there was something wrong with this set-up. Galinda despised Elphaba, and Elphaba returned those feelings of hatred. And Galinda had paused a teeny bit too long at times when she spoke, when calling the hat 'sharp' and 'smart'.

When I arrived at the Ozdust Ballroom, most of the students were already there. Elphaba wasn't, but Nessa was there with Boq, and Galinda was too, with Fiyero. I stood back, watching the dancers. Boq spun Nessa around in her wheelchair. I couldn't dance with my stupid crutches. I got some punch, but after my first sip, I could detect something other than the "lemons and melons and pears' the punch boasted. I wondered who had spiked it, but glancing around, I ruled out most people, with the exception of some of the troublemakers from Shiz.

That was when Mme walked in to tell Galinda that she would accept her into the sorcery seminar and gave her a wand. "Don't thank me." she added. "This was all your roommate's idea. My professional opinion is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you'll prove me wrong. I doubt you will." And with that she swept out.

After that, Galinda seemed slightly less of a show-off than she had when I met her. I think what really stopped my hate for her happened after Elphaba joined the party, in the hat Galinda had given her.

I wasn't up on the last fashion tips, but I realized that Galinda had played a mean trick and humiliated Elphaba by convincing her to wear the hat. Elphaba pretended not to care about all the stares she got and began to improvise dance moves.

"Who is that?" I heard Fiyero ask.

"My roommate." Galinda answered, beginning to look more and more guilty. "Please don't stare at her!"

Fiyero shrugged, still watching her. "How can you help it?" A second later he added. "Well, she doesn't seem to care about what anyone else thinks."

"Of course she does, she just pretends not to." said Galinda. "Oh, I feel awful." She really seemed to care, for the first time, about someone other than herself. She stepped onto the dance floor and began to copy Elphaba. I began to cheer them on, as the band began playing a popular song. The students sang along, dancing happily.

Just after the party broke up, way past midnight, I went up to Galinda and said "Hey, Galinda. I just wanted to apologize for the way I've treated you since we met. I was so wrong about you. You did a wonderful thing for my sister."

Galinda smiled back at me. "Thanks, Autumn. Maybe we can be friends now."  
"I hope." I said. "Bye!"

Nessa and I didn't talk for the rest of the night in our room, but we talked for way over an hour. The only reason I fell asleep afterwards was because I didn't want to have to break the truth about Boq to my twin sister. She was so happy and I didn't want to have to burst her bubble. Not after such an amazing night, anyway.

**Reviews are love! If you review, you get virtual tops with any _Wicked _song lyric you want on them! *Wears virtual green top with "They'll never bring me down"on it***


	5. Chapter 4: Routine

**Next chapter up. This is mainly just about post-Popular/I'm Not That Girl life, but the chapter after this will cover One Short Day/Defying Gravity life. Thanks to reviewer wickaholic! Read on.**

Things changed at Shiz after that. Elphaba and Galinda became best friends, however different they were. As I'd hoped, I did become friends with Galinda, and I soon realized that however self-centered she was, she had many good points. She could be kind if she felt like it for one thing. Her popularity was probably due to her enthusiasm and optimism, though. She was very perky, though, which could get annoying.

Elphaba felt much the same way about her perkiness, and while she lost patience with Galinda sometimes, their friendship was very strong, and they never looked back at the days when they hated each other. Galinda had even dubbed Elphaba with a perky type of nickname; 'Elphie'. It was obvious Elphaba wasn't exactly thrilled with the name, but she let Galinda call her that, though no one else dared.

Then came the day that shattered any hope for Animal's rights I may have had-Dr Dillamond was forced to leave and no one really seemed to care, except for Elphaba, who was not only one of the smartest students at Shiz, but also very passionate about the rights of Animals, who seemed to be losing respect and speech all over Oz.

Our new professor immediately showed us a Lion cub in a cage. If he was kept in it, apparently, he would never learn to speak (Yes, it was a boy cub). Then it gets a bit blurry. I can't remember much, but after what I can remember, Elphaba and Fiyero had left the room but everyone else was still there.

"What happened?" I asked Nessa.

"I'm not sure." she said, "But seeing as Elphaba has disappeared, and I'm pretty sure my wheelchair was uncontrollably moving, I think something happened with her, like on the first day here."

I recalled the sorcery 'talent' mentioned on the first day. "Unintentional magic again?"

"Probably."

Days kept going by routinely. Every day I'd go to the same classes, work work work, and at the end of the day, I'd sometimes stay in my room, sometimes not. Often I went to Elphaba and Galinda's room. Galinda was out most of the time, and it was nice to have a bit of time to hang out with my older sister. I still spent time with Nessa, sometimes in our room, sometimes out. I also went out shopping with Galinda a few times-her and her friends. A few times she dragged a reluctant Elphaba along, without her other friends, but most of the time she let her best friend stay by herself. I, personally, am sure I got more clothes on one shopping trip with Galinda then I got in a year. Her shopping trips were like work-outs, and she kept telling me I 'had' to get this skirt or that dress or those shoes because I looked 'so amazing' wearing them.

Then there was the romantic side. Galinda and Fiyero were pretty much viewed as a couple. Only I seemed to notice anything wrong. Occasionally I'd see Elphaba glancing over at Fiyero with a wistful but resigned expression. I didn't bring it up with her, but I knew there was something going on with that. I mean, I still had a little crush on him too, but I accepted that it was never going to happen. Besides, I soon realized that Fiyero wasn't really that good of a person, although after Dr Dillamond was taken away, he started becoming more thoughtful, which worried Galinda. She was really concerned that he was actually thinking for once.

The worst of my problems with others was the Nessa/Boq situation. They, too, were viewed as a couple. At the fateful party, Boq had told Nessa that he asked her there because she was beautiful. Everyone except Nessa knew that he only had eyes for Galinda, but like me on the night, they didn't want to be the one to break Nessa's heart and tell her. I couldn't bear to tell my twin either. But I didn't want her to get hurt too badly, so about two weeks after the party, I approached Boq.

I got straight to the point. "I know you're in love with Galinda. So why are you dating Nessa?"

Boq looked a bit guilty at my question, but answered "Well...I suppose I'm doing it because Miss Galinda did asked me to. But you're right, I do love her. But I like Nessa too, but just as a friend. But I don't want to hurt her."

I sighed. "You need to tell Nessa the truth. She thinks you're in love with her. You have to tell her gently that you only like her as a friend. If you don't do that now, you'll hurt her more later."

Boq sighed too. "Well...you're right. I'll try to. But I don't know how I can."

"If you break her heart any more than just saying that, I'll ask Elphaba to help me in sorcery so I can cast a spell on you." I threatened, but even as I said it, I smiled at Boq. He was a good person, I could see that. He was just kind of weak when dealing with people. Plus I wasn't sure if he could find the strength to burst Nessa's bubble so she'd get over it before the relationship got too far along for either of them to back out.

I guessed correctly, unfortunately. About a week after our conversation, Boq had attempted to tell Nessa, but had hesitated at the last minute. But I couldn't tell her myself, and I didn't have the heart to get on Boq's case, because I knew he had tried.

Later that week, I was discussing it with Elphaba. "What should I do?" I asked. "I can't be the one to break her heart."

"Why don't you just leave it?" Elphaba suggested. "I know it's hard to lie to her all the time, but I don't want her to get hurt."

"Nor do I, but if she doesn't find out now, she'll get even more hurt later." I pointed out. "It's for Boq as well. If he can't find the strength to tell her how he really feels, they'll be trapped in a relationship. I know you can see that. We can't shelter Nessa forever."

However, when it came to Nessa, Elphaba wouldn't let her sister get hurt in the foreseeable future, and that meant that she didn't have a solution to the Bessa problem-which was what I called the Nessarose/Boq problem for short. I didn't discuss it with Galinda either, since she'd been the one to set the two of them up in the first place. It meant I was less chatty with Nessa when she got onto that subject (which was often) but we were still best friends and twin sisters in every other sense.

And then the day came that would turn my life and my sisters' lives around.

**There it is! Review, please!**


	6. Chapter 5: Growing Up

**OK, here we are with the turning point. Thanks to James Birdsong and j0k3 for reviewing!**

The day itself began pretty well. Mme had written to the Wizard about Elphaba soon after she'd found out how talented she was, and she had at last gotten a reply. The Wizard wanted to see Elphaba! My older sister was happier than I'd ever seen her, and had high hopes for the future.

A group of us went to congratulate her before she left for the Emerald City. There was me of course, there was Boq, pushing Nessa's wheelchair, Galinda, and also Fiyero. For some reason, we got on to the subject of Animal rights. Fiyero seemed to be just as committed as Elphaba, and Galinda, trying to impress him, decided to change her name. Dr Dillamond was never able to get her name right. So in honour of his pronounciation, she decided she would from now on call herself 'Glinda.' However, Fiyero hardly acknowledged it, congratulating Elphaba and wishing her good luck.

Boq didn't look too happy, either. He was still stuck in the relationship with Nessa, and it was taking a real toll on him. He ended up rushing out, murmuring that he 'couldn't do this anymore'.

Nessa was worried about him, thinking that there must be something wrong with her, but she was unfixitated enough on Boq to tell Elphaba how proud she was. She gave one last smile at our sister before following Boq.

I, too, gave my congratulations. "They'll absolutely love you." I told Elphaba. "Give it your all - oh, and when you get back, tell me what the best sights in the Emerald City are, OK?"

Elphaba chuckled. "Sure, Autumn. I'll see you when I get back."

Little did we know, Elphaba wasn't coming back. When I look back on that day now, I wonder how the girl I said goodbye to would change so much in a single day.

Glinda's the only one who saw what happened to Elphaba. Elphaba invited her along to the Emerald City to cheer her up, since she was worried that Fiyero wasn't paying attention to her.

After classes that day, I had switched my mobile on, and found a message from Glinda:

_im comin back 2morrow sumting happened 2 elphie c u at the gates of shiz_

Nessa had gotten the same message. "What could have happened?" she wondered out loud.

"I think something bad happened." I said anxiously. "Glinda sounds like she's the only one coming back."

"It could be good." Nessa pointed out. "I hope it is."

I was far more pessimistic than my twin sister, and couldn't get it off my mind for the rest of the day, and the next, until I spotted Glinda at the gates at the end of the courtyard.

A group of us that she'd sent the text to gathered around to hear what she had to say.

"What happened?" I demanded anxiously.

"Elphie...flew off on her own." Glinda whispered. "The Wizard was the reason for Animals losing respect. She said she's going to fight her. She enchanted a broomstick and flew off."

Soon, the news spread all around Shiz...no, forget Shiz, all of Oz. Before long, Elphaba had gained a title, the "Wicked Witch Of The West", because people suspected that's where she was. Very few people remembered the talented girl from Shiz that had gone to the Emerald City with the hope of being loved. Of course, Glinda remembered her best friend. Although Fiyero didn't talk about it, he remembered. Nessa and I remembered, of course. But after the initial shock, Nessa became angry at her sister. I'd never known her to be so furious. She'd sometimes been annoyed by Elphaba for being so antisocial at times, and also, for her strange skin tone, but now she was really mad at her sister for flying off to become a rebel. "It doesn't matter if she's helping Animals or not!" Nessa had fumed, about a month after, when we heard of Elphaba freeing some Animals, which was her real intention-to get Animals the rights the Wizard took away from them. "If she has the magical talent that got her to the Wizard, why can't she help me, at least? I'm her sister!"

Me? I missed Elphaba. A few times, I tried to text her throughout the next year. She didn't answer much, though. The first time t texted I wrote: _R U OK? Call me. (Are you okay? Call me.) _She answered: _Im OK. Dnt call, they track calls. (I'm okay. Don't call, they track calls.)_

I still texted her, although I didn't phone her. She occasionally texted back, such as on my seventeenth birthday. But other than that, it was as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. I missed my older sister. And even though Nessa didn't admit it, she missed her too, just as much as I did. I was sure she did.

Years passed. After four years at Shiz, the old group took the exams and graduated. Even Fiyero passed. And we all got our positions in life. Glinda already had a position waiting for her at the Emerald City. After visiting the day Elphaba flew off, the Wizard had given her a position as a public figure. She was known as Glinda, the Good Witch of The North, or more commonly Glinda The Good. Fiyero became Captain of the Gale Force, who, as they protected the Wizard, were trying to hunt down Elphaba. I later found out the only reason he did this was because he wanted to find Elphaba.

Nessa took on her – our - father's position as the Governor of Munchkinland. Boq had never been able to tell her about his obsession for Glinda, and she invited him to live with her, and he accepted. Nessa also invited me to live with her, and she shared all her decisions with me.

I kept in touch with Glinda, although we didn't meet face-to-face at all. When Glinda had any amount of hours to herself, she'd sometimes call me or Nessa on our cells. She gave us all the news over where she was. We never really talked about was too painful a subject for Glinda to bring up, it seemed. She'd lost touch with her best friend, who was now thought to be wicked.

Meanwhile, I was starting to get increasingly worried about Nessa's mental health...

**Review, please! I'm going to have some fun stuff in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6: Governor

**Well, here's the next chapter. **

_**Previously on "Younger Sisters"...**_

_Meanwhile, I was starting to get increasingly worried about Nessa's mental health..._

Ever since she became the Governor, she'd changed. Gone was the tragically beautiful girl from Shiz, the shy sweet young girl in the wheelchair who became my best friend. She started going a little bit emo, to be honest, especially after the ex-Governor passed away. She wore all black, except for her silver jeweled shoes. She wore her long chestnut-coloured hair in a bun, and hardly ever smiled. But what concerned me most was the way she was using her power over the Munchkins.

One week after she took over power, she called me into her office. "I'm going to put up blocks at the border of Munchkinland." she told me. "No one can get out, that way."

"Oz, Nessa!" I exclaimed. "Why are you doing that?"

"I can't have them leaving me." she whispered, an almost crazed look in her eyes. "I can't be alone, with no one to turn to."

"I'm here." I protested. "I'll always be here. Boq's here, too." I felt guilty, knowing that Boq already resented Nessa, because of the way he was trapped in a relationship with her, but not letting the Munchkins leave was an insane prospect.

"I have to do it, Autumn." she said pleadingly. "I can't have them leaving. You're behind me, aren't you?"

I took a deep breath. "Of course I am." I said quickly. "Sisters to the end." Nessa gave me one of her rare smiles, but it still didn't seem to reach her eyes. Her blue eyes had once been like the sea, sparkling and radiant when she was happy, calm and dark when she was miserable, wild and colourful when she was angry. Now they were more like sapphires with lost worth, twinkling a little when she really felt happy, but otherwise cold and dark, unchanging. But I felt so guilty. I didn't want to lose my sister, but I felt like if I really would stop her, I'd lose her, but already, I was losing her. I'd lost the old Nessarose that was my best friend.

I talked to Boq about it when we were alone, once, about a month after Nessa took power in the evening. She had started treating him like a slave instead of a boyfriend. "I think she's lost the plot." I confessed. "I love her as a twin sister should, but I'm worried about her."

Boq sighed. "I can't help it, but I hate her. She's taken away all the rights of me and my people. But in a way, I do love her."

"You do?" I asked in amazement.

"Not the way I love Glinda." Boq explained. "I even hated her when we went on that first date. She split my feelings for Glinda, and now some of them are directed at her. But I hate her too. I can't be with her, but-"

I heard a bell ringing. Nessa's bell. She rang it whenever she wanted something. "Boq!" I heard her call.

"I'll go and see what she wants." I sighed.

"She's calling me." Boq pointed out. "You know what she'll be like if you go instead of me." Then I realized why she might be calling Boq specifically. I had a hunch of what Nessa wanted.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Nessa put her head in my bedroom door, where I had gone to after Boq had left. "Early night." she told me. "Don't come in my room for at least ten hours unless it's an emergency, got it?" I nodded and Nessa smirked. "'Night, Autumn." she said.

"'Night, Nessa." I replied as she shut the door. It didn't happen often, but occasionally, Nessa really felt unloved. Although Boq didn't love her enough to overpower the way he felt about Glinda, he flawlessly played the role of boyfriend. Of course, he still had that feeling of hate he had admitted to me, but Nessa seemed happy enough.

Considering how unhappy the Munchkins were under Nessa's rule, Munchkinland was very bright and happy. As Nessa's sister, the Munchkins weren't exactly happy when I was in the vicinity, but they would all be respectful. I usually went for a short walk every day. However exhausting it got, I didn't intend to give up on exercise. On the first day, the Munchkins had called me Miss Monsoon when saying hi (Yes, I still use my adopted surname). I guess they had to greet me if they wanted to stay on the Governor's good side.

"You don't have to call me Miss Monsoon." I told them. "I'm Autumn."

"You're nothing like your sisters." one of them said. "One's a Wicked Witch, and the other," she lowered her voice, "Is wicked too." Then she clapped her hand to her mouth. "I didn't mean that! I-"

I checked Nessa definitely wasn't around, and whispered. "It's OK. Between you and me, I think she's going a little overboard, to say the least."

After that, the Munchkins tolerated me, at least. I ended up very good friends with Boq. But all the time, Nessa was slowly becoming more and more crazy. Everything wicked she did, I knew, were out of fear of loneliness and desperation. But no one else knew, and however much I tried to let Nessa know I was there for her, it didn't stop her. She still passed unfair laws. She was still insecure.

Meanwhile, I'd lost complete touch with Elphaba. I still knew what was happening with her from papers, but because she was being denounced, I could tell some of it was fiction. I occasionally tried texting her, on birthdays, or other celebrations, but she never messaged me back. I suspected she'd thrown her cellphone away. But to tell the truth, I didn't have much time to worry about Elphaba when Nessa was still being crazy. The Munchkins were starting to think of her as a witch too, although she hadn't used any magic at any point. I wanted to help both my sisters, but I didn't know how. I felt like I'd was stuck in a wandering dream.

That was until the day that Elphaba visited, about three years after Nessa took power. At that time, things finally came to a head.

**Elphaba's visit next! I'll be sure to contrast reactions, so R&R!**


	8. Chapter 7: Visit

**Welcome back! Here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for reviewing, James Birdsong.**

_That was until the day that Elphaba visited, about three years after Nessa took power. At that time, things finally came to a head._

By that time, Boq had ceased to call Nessa by her name, and had started calling her "Madame". He obviously felt like he was more of a servant, just as I did.

During the afternoon, he left the room, and that was when it happened.

"Well, it seems the beautiful only get more beautiful," a familiar voice said dryly. Nessa screamed and I gasped.

"While the green just get greener." Elphaba stepped out of the cupboard as she finished speaking. "Sorry." she added. "Did I scare you? I seem to have that effect on people."

"I've been so worried about you!" I cried. "Why haven't you kept in touch? What's been happening? I missed you!"

Elphaba smiled wanly. "I missed both of you, but you'd understand if you'd been with me at the time."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Nessa demanded aggressively.

"Well, there's no place like home." Elphaba pointed out. She added that she needed help, and that was one reason she'd come. Nessa was refusing.

"What exactly do you need help with?" I asked.

"Who cares?" snapped Nessa, turning to her older sister. "I can't harbour a fugitive, I'm an unelected official. And why should either of us help you? You fly around Oz, trying to rescue Animals you've never even met, when not once have you ever thought you use your powers to rescue me!"

"Nessa, you don't even need rescuing in that way!" I protested. "You just want out of your wheelchair. The Animals are losing their right to speak and things! I've gotten around in crutches for more than twenty years, and you've used a chair for the same amount of time-well, minutes less, since I was born first, but the point is, you don't need rescuing."

"Shut up, Autumn! You don't know what it's like. How do you think it feels, being pitied? All my life, I've longed to be able to walk."

"Nessa, I'd help you if I could, but there isn't a spell for everything." Elphaba said. "It's not like cobbling up a pair of-" she trailed off, her eyes fixed on Nessa's silver shoes. I suddenly realized she had an ancient spellbook. "Wait." she said, then began to chant from the book.

"What are you doing? What does that mean?" Nessa demanded, but then she gave a scream. "My shoes! It feels like they're on fire! What have you done to my shoes?" Suddenly, an incredible thing happened as Elphaba stopped chanting. My sister, who'd never been able to even stand, rose to her feet for a split second, then collapsed to the ground. "Don't help me." she ordered, then stood again, beginning to walk. Her jeweled shoes were glowing red.

"Did you do that?" I whispered to Elphaba. "What exactly did you do?"

"I put a spell on the shoes." she explained. "As long as Nessa wears them, she'll be able to walk."

"You know," I whispered, lowering my voice, "I've been really worried about Nessa recently. Maybe this will help her get back on track."

At that moment, Nessa was ringing her bell, calling Boq, and then going back to sit in her wheelchair.

"No one can know I'm here!" Elphaba tried to protest, but Boq arrived before she could leave.

He noticed Elphaba at once. "You!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Stay back!"

"It's just me, I'm not going to hurt you." Elphaba tried to reason.

"You lie! That's all you ever do! You and your sister!" He turned to gesture to Nessa, then turned back to Elphaba. "She's as wicked as you are! And your other sister is too weak to try to stop either of you!"

"You're not being fair!" I shouted at him.

"What are you talking about?" Nessa spoke over me.

"I'm talking about my life!" Boq yelled at her, standing up for himself for what could be the first time in his whole life. He went on to talk about how Nessa had opressed the Munchkins and trapped them in the land. "And do you know why?"

"To keep you here with me!" Nessa supplied. "But none of that matters any more. Look!" She stood and walked over to Boq.

"She did this for you?" he exclaimed.

"For both of us!"

"Nessa, this changes everything!" He was back to using her name.

"I know!"

It all fell apart when Boq decided he would leave. Glinda and Fiyero had recently become engaged. He wanted to go to Glinda and express his love for her. Even after all these years. "I lost my heart to Glinda the moment I first saw her, you know that." he reminded Nessa.

A feeling of heartbreak flashed on my twin sister's face, followed by anger. "Lost your heart? Well, we'll see about that!" she said furiously.

"Nessa, let him go." Elphaba began to say.

Nessa wasn't listening. "Did you really think I'd let you leave me here flat?"  
"Nessarose, don't even think about doing this to Boq!" I hadn't used her whole first name for years. "He's right! I've stood by for the last three years, watching you go to the edge of insanity. Not any more! Stop!"

Nessa turned to face me. I gasped when I saw her expression. "You're not going to do anything! Just because I'm the youngest by a few minutes or two years, you two think you can tell me what to do? I'll do what I want." She turned back to Boq. "And you _will _lose your heart to me, even if I have to – if I have to...magic-spell you!" She picked up the book Elphaba had used minutes ago and began to chant from it herself.

Elphaba tried to stop her, while I stood with Boq protectively. When he gave a cry, concern crossed Nessa's face. "Boq, what is it?" she cried.

"My heart!" he shrieked. "It feels like...like it's shrinking!"

"Elphaba, do something!" screamed Nessa.

"I can't! You can't reverse a spell once it's been cast!"

"Then what will we do?" Nessa cried. "Autumn, can't you do something?"

"I tried to stop you!"

"I'm going to try another spell." Elphaba said. "It's the only thing that might work." She flicked through the book and began to chant from it.

"Autumn, what did I do?" Nessa whispered. Tears began sliding down her cheeks, making her look tragic. "This isn't who I wanted to be." she wept. She slowly pulled her brunette hair out of the bun, letting it fall, framing her face. She stared into space, whispering the words "Save him, save Boq, please, don't let him be killed. Don't leave me until I die." She turned to me again. "I don't know who I am anymore. The only way to know who I am is to look in the mirror. That's all I deserve, now. But it's not what I want."

Elphaba finished chanting. "He's asleep." she told us.

"What about his heart?" Nessa asked anxiously.

"It's alright, he won't need one now." Elphaba said.

"Wha..?" I asked.

Elphaba shook her head. "I have to leave. I have business to attend to in the Emerald City."

"Elphaba, please don't leave me!" cried Nessa.

"Nessa, I've done all I could for you and it hasn't been enough." Elphaba told her. "I know nothing ever will be." She turned to me. "Goodbye, Autumn. I know you'll be able to help her."

"Are you sure you can't stay?" I whispered. "I've missed you."

My older sister nodded. "Don't worry. You'll be OK." And with those last words, Elphaba disappeared as abruptly as she came.

For the rest of that day, I had to look after Nessa. When Boq woke up, we found out he was made of tin. Nessa told him it was Elphaba that did it to him, when he appeared to have no memory. Before I could correct her, Boq left, and I had to stay with Nessa. I knew that she needed me.

**OK, we know what happens to Nessa after this scene, but I'm planning some upcoming stuff with Autumn, so stay tuned and review!**


	9. Chapter 8: Death

**I'm back, and now to go through with one of the most sad things to do to a character. Thanks for your review, James Birdsong.**

After Elphaba's visit and Boq's departure, Nessa seemed to have lost it at first. She locked herself in her bedroom for three hours. Then I got a knock on my bedroom door.

"Autumn?" called a familiar voice.

"What is it, Nessa?" I called back.

"Can I have some colourful clothes? All I have is black."

I didn't question her interest in wearing something other than black. I simply got out a soft crimson dress for her to wear.

Five minutes after I'd given her the dress, there was another knock on the door. "Hey, can I come in?"

I opened the door and I almost gasped at the sight of my twin sister. She had her brown hair loose, framing her face prettily. She also wore the crimson dress, and looked absolutely lovely in it. Her stockings were stripy, black and white, but they were barely noticeable with the ruby red shoes glowing on her feet.

"How do I look?" Nessa asked, twirling to let me get the full effect.

"Nessa..." I breathed. "You look lovely."

"Thanks," she said, with a smile that made her eyes sparkle, almost the way they used to. "Can I share your room tonight? I don't want to be on my own." she pleaded. "I'm going to remake my image. I know I was cruel in my desperation, but tomorrow, I'm going to change all that."

I hugged Nessa lightly. "Sure you can. I'm glad you've decided to do that."

That night, we stayed up late, having a good heart-to-heart and chatting. It was like we were sixteen years old and back at Shiz again, in the happier days, before Elphaba flew off by herself. After looking back on everything and explaining and apologizing, we still talked, and it really felt like we had no more cares.

I'm glad, I guess, that my last memories of Nessa were so happy. Yes, my last memories of Nessa.

Nessa got up early the next day. "I'm gonna go out for a walk." she whispered to me. "Wanna come?"

"Too early." I muttered, turning over.

"OK." Nessa said. "I'll see you in half an hour." And with that, she was gone.

About half an hour later, I heard a cry outside, and then it was cut off. I was awake instantly. "Nessa?"

I ran out of our house, and found a house. When I looked at the front, I saw two very familiar shoes sticking out. "Nessa!" I cried. I dropped to my knees and started crying. As I cried, the door opened, and a girl of about ten stepped out, holding a shaggy dog.

She didn't notice me straightaway, staring around at Munchkinland, the Yellow Brick Road in the middle, all the colour. "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more." she said shakily to the dog. Then she finally noticed me. "Excuse me?" I looked up at the girl. "Where am I?"

I didn't answer. "I'd just seen something I remembered seeing from far away. A pink tinted bubble. I hadn't seen how it appeared, but I'd read about it in the papers, and I knew it was a way of transportation for Glinda. After all, she was the only person in Oz who loved pink that much.

"Wait for her." I told the girl, pointing to the bubble. "She'll tell you." Sure enough, Glinda soon appeared, congratulating the girl (who introduced herself as Dorothy Gale) for killing Nessa, who she titled "The Wicked Witch of The East".

I couldn't let her call my sister a wicked witch. "Excuse me!" I snapped, walking up to Glinda, "But she was not wicked in any way! She was just desperate to not be left alone!"

"Who's that?" Dorothy asked Glinda.

"She's the Witch's sister." Glinda answered.

"There you go again!" I jumped in. "Glinda Arduenna Upland, stop saying those things about my sister. I'm sure you can tell the truth, even if you're too dizzy blonde to do anything else!"

"Excuse me for a moment." Glinda said to Dorothy. Then she pulled me away and hissed "Shut up! I'll get enough of that from that fiancee-stealing elder sister of yours!"

"Excuse me!" I snapped again. "That's my other sister you're talking about! Stop denouncing my family. Do it again, and I'll denounce your _face _and cut off all your hair!"

Glinda gasped at me. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me!" I scowled. "Call yourself a good witch? You're more of a good _bitch!"_

Glinda turned on her heel and stalked back to Dorothy. Therefore came a celebration about how great it was that Nessa was dead. I didn't protest in front of the Munchkins, but I was going to give Glinda hell afterwards.

Once the Munchkins had gone back into their houses and Glinda had sent Dorothy off to the Emerald City to see if the Wizard could get her home (she also gave Dorothy Nessa's shoes! Does she have no shame?), I intended to confront her, as she walked to the house and knelt there. Before I could speak, though, another voice spoke.

"What a touching display of grief." Elphaba appeared from the shadows, scowling.

"I don't believe we have anything further to say to one another." Glinda replied haughtily.

"I wanted something to remember her by." Elphaba said, her voice shaking a little. "All that was left of her were those shoes. And now that wretched little farm girl has walked off with them!"

"It's gonna take all of my strength not to gang up on you, Glinda." I said. "You totally deserve it."

The conversation between the ex-best friends carried on. Well, catfight. Finally, Glinda brought up what she'd mentioned before. She had said that Elphaba stole her fiancee, and that was Fiyero, so...

"Now wait just a clock tick! I know it might be impossible for that blissful blonde brain of yours to comprehend that someone like him chose someone like me, but it's true!" Elphaba was saying. "But it's happened, it's real. And you can wave that ridiculous wand all you want-" at this she pointed at a silvery wand Glinda held- "But you can't change it. He never belonged to you, he doesn't love you, and he never did! He loves me!"

Glinda slapped her hard. Elphaba gave a witch-like cackle and asked "Feel better now?"

"Yes, I do." Glinda said coldly.

"Good!" Elphaba slapped her back, and considering the mark it left, it was harder than Glinda's slap. "So do I!"

I looked at them for a moment, then went up, and slapped Glinda myself. 'Sister-murderer!" I threw at her.

"Stay out of this!" Glinda yelled at me.

"No!" I yelled back. "I don't care who took whose fiancee, but it was you who helped kill Nessa, and just when she was about to reform!'

But before we could really fight, guards ran in and restrained Elphaba. I would've fought Glinda myself, but she was quick enough to grab my crutches and toss them aside, making me fall, but before I could, she grabbed my arms and pulled me up.

"I can't believe you would sink this low!" Elphaba cried. "To use my sister's death as a trap to capture me?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Glinda said defensively.

"Let the green girl go!" The voice came from a new voice. Fiyero swung in on a rope.

He threatened to kill Glinda if they didn't let Elphaba go, so they obeyed, and he insisted she went straightaway. Sadly, he was captured himself. Glinda protested, to my surprise.

"Take her too!" one of the guards yelled, pointing at me. "She assaulted Glinda the Good!"

Again, Glinda tried to dissuade the guards, but they grabbed me anyway. They stuck Fiyero up on a pole in a cornfield while holding me, then took my crutches and left me crumpled next to the pole, planning to use corporal punishment on me when they had the time, since I couldn't walk and therefore not move. They tortured Fiyero to try and force him to tell where Elphaba had gone, but he stayed silent.

When I looked at him again, I realized an amazing thing. He was...a scarecrow! So they realized they couldn't hurt him and left him alone. Me? I got a beating, but not one that would kill me. But they left me there, without my crutches, so I was stuck there until someone got me the equivalent-like branches or something. As previously mentioned, I was in a cornfield, so I couldn't reach for one from where I lay.

**Wizard of Oz is becoming very mixed here. Review, please!**


	10. Chapter 9: Dorothy

**This will be one of the more "Wizard of Oz" chapters. For Dorothy-haters, I don't hate her, so I'll be fair. I dislike her, though. Thanks to TheTbone and James Birdsong for reviewing. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint for originality. **

The little girl called Dorothy came along to where Fiyero and I were after a day. She was looking at a fork in the road. "Now which way do we go?" she complained.

"That way is a very nice way." Fiyero supplied.

Dorothy looked around. "Who said that?" Her dog barked at Fiyero. "Don't be silly, Toto." she said to him. "Scarecrows don't tal-"

"It's pleasant down that way too." Fiyero added, pointing the way she came.

Dorothy looked up again. "That's strange. Wasn't he pointing the other way?" I stifled a giggle.

"Of course, people do go both ways." This time Dorothy caught him pointing.

"Why, you did say something, didn't you?" she exclaimed.

Fiyero began to shake his head and nod. "No, yes, no, yes." I said.

"Who's that?" Dorothy asked. "You sound familiar."

"I was the girl sounding off at Glinda." I said carelessly. "And this is my high school and college crush."

"A scarecrow?" Dorothy said skeptically. "Anyway, why were you confusing me? Can't you make up your mind?"

"I don't have a mind to make up." Fiyero told her. "I haven't got a brain. Only straw."

It ended in us going with Dorothy towards Emerald City. She gave me some plant branches she broke off on the other side of the Yellow Brick Road to use as crutches, since mine had been taken.

I disliked Dorothy a little. Every time I looked at the shoes she wore that were Nessa's, I felt like punching her in the face. Her high voice and naivety were annoying. At night, Dorothy would curl up and fall asleep, while Fiyero and I talked.

"Why did you tell her you didn't have a brain?" I asked him once.

"Because it was all I could come up with." he admitted. "It's true, too. I was brainless back at Shiz, and now I'm a scarecrow, it's literal. Anyway, remember she said Elphaba's mad at her? If we stick with her, we'll find Elphaba for sure. Why did you decide to come?"

"I need some way of walking, and I do want to find Elphaba. The minute we find her, I'm going to go join her, no matter what Dorothy thinks of me."

"I think I better stick with her and secretly send a message to Elphaba. I've got a plan."

I smiled. "OK, cool."

Fiyero hesitated. "Also..." he grinned in a slightly teasing way, "What was that you said about me in high school and college?"

I slapped him on the arm, even though I knew it didn't hurt. "Oh, shut up! I wasn't the first girl who had a crush on you, and I wasn't the last. And I don't have a crush on you any more. You're with Elphaba, and I'm single."

Fiyero laughed. And so did I.

It was about a week before we came across someone else. Dorothy found him. It was a man...made out of tin.

We oiled him, and I knew who he was immediately.

"Boq!" I cried. Then I hugged him. "Are you OK? What happened to you? By the way, don't believe what Nessa told you!"

"Who's Nessa?" Dorothy asked.

I felt awkward. "Um...she was my best friend."

Boq also said something about not having a heart, and Dorothy invited him along to see the Wizard.

"Suppose he didn't give me one when we got there?" Boq said skeptically.

"He will!" Dorothy said confidently. "We've come such a long way already!"

A familiar cackle went through the air. Elphaba was standing on top of the roof. "You call that long? You've just begun!"

As she spoke, I whispered to Boq the true circumstances, and why I was going to go with Elphaba. I didn't want him to hate me. He nodded, and I called out "I'm coming!" Elphaba stopped short. She paused, then flew her broomstick onto the ground, helped me on, and we flew off.

We flew all the way into Kiamo Ko, in the west.

"Fiyero said I could use this castle." she explained.

"You do realized you just threatened him in the forest?"

Elphaba gasped. "Wha-I thought he was...I cast a spell, but I didn't think it worked."

"So that's why he turned into a scarecrow!" I exclaimed. Elphaba nodded.

"So what's next?" I asked.

"I'm getting Nessa's shoes from that farm girl." Elphaba explained. Suddenly, she looked at me, and said "Wait a second." She flipped through the spellbook, and chanted another spell. Suddenly, I felt new strength in my legs. I shakily stood, and found...I no longer needed crutches to support myself.

I would've hugged Elphaba, but I knew she wasn't good with physical affection, sisterly or otherwise, so I just thanked her so many times, but she waved it off. "It was pretty similar to the spell I cast on Nessa's shoes." she explained. "No problem."

It turned out Elphaba was furious at Dorothy for killing Nessa and taking her shoes. I didn't bother to defend Dorothy, even though it was more Glinda's fault.

"So what exactly are you going to do if Dorothy doesn't give you Nessa's shoes?" I asked.

"Kill her." When my shock appeared, Elphaba chuckled darkly. "No, I wouldn't go that far. I want to, but I won't go any further than threatening to kill her. What I will do is capture her."

"Well, I'll help. By the way, she's kind of stupid, she doesn't question anything, and you can probably make her cry." I told her.

"At this point, I don't really care." Elphaba said. "That little girl shouldn't even be in Oz."

"I think there's something out of place here." I suddenly realized. "Are you sure it was Glinda who got the house falling on Nessa?"

Elphaba shook her head. "No, Madame Morrible's the one with weather powers. I suppose she used them to create a tornado. But Glinda probably gave her the idea."

"So what are you going to do about her?" I asked in interest.

"Nothing." Elphaba answered. "Not now, anyway. Her political powers are far superior to my power."

I nodded. "Yeah, true. I can't believe she'd do anything like this."

**I'm ending this chapter here, but stay tuned. Review, please!**


	11. Chapter 10: For Good

**Well, the "For Good" scene will be coming. Read on. Thanks for reviewing, James Birdsong.**

I'd helped Elphaba capture Dorothy when the group arrived. They were supposed to kill Elphaba, apparently. Right now Dorothy was locked up, and we could hear her crying. She could've just pulled Nessa's shoes off to get out of the room, but for some reason, she wouldn't. Elphaba yelled into the room for Dorothy to stop crying. "I can't take it anymore!" she yelled.

"I'm going to talk to her." I decided. I walked into the room, and sat next to the crying girl. "Look." I said softly. "Take the shoes off."

"But Glinda said not to." Dorothy sobbed.

"They aren't yours, though." I pointed out, feeling harsher. "The girl they belonged to was my twin sister. Take them off."

Dorothy looked up at me, tears starring her eyelashes. "No." she said. "They're mine now."

"No they are not!" I shouted, losing my temper. "Give them to me right now!" I lunged to touch a shoe, but the minute I did, the shoes gave me an electric shock. "Damn Glinda." I muttered.

"Autumn?" Elphaba's voice called. "Come out here!"

I glared at Dorothy. "Take off the shoes." I said warningly. "Elphaba isn't likely to let you go if you don't." Then I walked out. Elphaba was standing there with Glinda.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Glinda harshly.

"Look, I know you're mad at me," Glinda said hesitantly. "I didn't mean for Nessa to die. I simply suggested starting a rumour that Nessa was in danger. And I was angry, OK? I was heartbroken that Fiyero would choose someone else."

I nodded, but said "I can't forget this. But I'll forgive you."

"Now on to more important matters." Glinda said. "Elphie, let the poor little girl and her dog go. They're just shoes. You can't go on like this."

"I can do anything I want." Elphaba snapped. "I'm the Wicked Witch Of The West." A flying monkey...wait, what? It was a flying monkey that hopped in and gave Elphaba a letter. She opened it, and her expression changed.

"What is it?" Glinda asked. I smiled to myself, remembering what Fiyero said about sending a message. It was from him, and Glinda had already realized that.

"We've seen his face for the last time." Elphaba said. "It's time I surrender." She picked up a bucket of water.

"Wha...?" I said, confused.

"I'll tell them everything-" Glinda said suddenly.

"No!" Elphaba said. "They'll only turn against you."

"I don't care!"

"I do. Promise...promise you won't try to clear my name." Elphaba turned to me for a moment. "Autumn, I have to talk to Glinda alone for a moment." I nodded, and left, feeling a little bit rejected.

It had been half an hour before I was asked back into the room.

"Autumn, we have to leave." Glinda told me.

"Why?" I complained. "I can't-"

"No one knows you were involved in this." Elphaba explained. "I said I was going to surrender. You must both hide, no one can know you were here!"

First Glinda hugged her goodbye, then it was my turn. "I'll miss you so much." I whispered. "Thank you for being a wonderful sister."

"I'll miss you too." Elphaba answered.

Then Glinda and I left. We knew that we'd seen Elphaba for the last time. It was true. When the witch hunters arrived, they freed Dorothy and when the bucket of water hit Elphaba, her skin reacted, and she...melted.

I attended the celebration of Elphaba's death, of course. It was just after Dorothy was sent home, due to Nessa's shoes, which had magic in them (The shoes went back to her home with her). Glinda was giving all the announcements, and even was open for questions. Suddenly, a man's voice spoke out over the crowd.

"Glinda! Is it true you were her friend?"

I froze.

"Well, it depends on what you mean by friend." Glinda said calmly. "I did know her, that is, our paths did cross. But it was a long time ago, in college."

However, when Glinda was alone, she would cry on and off. I would too, knowing that I was the only sister left. I stayed with Glinda for the first year after Elphaba's death, in fact.

But over the next five years, my life improved.

**Next is another chapter, then an epilogue, and then I guess the story will be over!**


	12. Chapter 11: After

**OK, one of the last chapters! *Sob* Don't worry, there's more to come after this chapter still! Thanks for reviewing, James Birdsong.**

I sought out Boq only two months after Elphaba's death. I knew he'd been one of the witch hunters, still not convinced that I had told the truth about how he came to be the Tin Man.

"Why didn't you believe me?" I demanded.

"W-well," Boq stuttered, "Because you didn't tell me at the time."

"You and Nessa didn't give me a chance!" I pointed out. "She lied, and you disappeared before I could correct her! Speaking of which, you should have stayed. Nessa needed support more than anything! She cried for three hours straight after you left!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Boq asked mildly. "Stay with the girl that had kept me from the girl I loved?"

"You were her friend once." I reminded him.

I saw something in Boq's eyes change. "But I didn't love her. It hurt too much to watch her change so drastically."

"Then why didn't you try to leave her before then?" I questioned.

Boq was hesitant. Finally he said, "Well...I couldn't get out of Munchkinland, for one thing. But also...there were some things about living there. All those 'early nights' with Nessa...I had to think about one thing the entire time that made it worthwhile. I even nearly got into trouble with Nessa once."

I blinked at him, mentally scanning through the years with Nessa as Governor. The only reason I'd stayed was because Nessa needed me. I wouldn't have stayed otherwise. What could the reason be?

Boq sighed. "That wasn't the only reason I hated Nessa. There was one more reason. Her craziness made me and you her only help. It kept me from you."

I replayed the words in my head. _It kept me from you. _What did that mean? I'd been good friends with him, I'd admit that much, but I'd never thought any further.

Boq's silvery face was still shy. "Do you remember that evening that the Ozdust? I'll admit, I didn't like you at all. You mocked my devotion to Glinda. But after that, I watched you a bit, and I realized my obsession for Glinda wasn't as strong any more. You were like Nessa in so many ways. You looked like her, for one. But you had some differences. Nessa wasn't as good at standing up for other people and she didn't speak her mind so harshly. But when she did, it seemed like you rubbed off on her, and her inner darkness turned her into a tyrannical monster after her sister had decided to defy the law. You didn't act that way. But one of those nights, I accidentally let my guard down and I called Nessa by your name. I was so scared of what she'd do, but I was able to pretend I hadn't said I said I was leaving because of Glinda, it was really because I couldn't stand the way it was with us. You were too wrapped up in making sure Nessa was OK to see my feelings."

"But why would you do that?" I asked. For the first time in my life, I was nervous.

Boq smiled at me, still shyly. "I may be heartless physically, but the feelings don't disappear unless you're sure they're gone. I've had a crush on you since the first year at Shiz. I felt I connected to you more when we both lived with Nessa. Now all inhibitions except your own feelings are gone, I had to admit it. I don't care if you don't feel the same way, but, Autumn Persephone Monsoon, I have fallen in love with you."

I paused. The thing was, I liked Boq. I didn't love him. Not yet, anyway. But as I looked at him, I thought that I could love him in time. He was very sweet and kind and open.

"Well..." I was still a little nervous, but I pushed the feeling away. "What's the best restaurant in the Emerald City?" I asked, attempting a smile.

Boq's face lit up a little, getting the subtle date question. In less than two minutes, we'd arranged a real date.

"I'm going to be out tonight." I told Glinda. "That OK?"

"Yes." Glinda said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

I shrugged, not wanting to mention how much she'd been crying recently.

The date went fine, and soon Boq and I were closer than ever. I fell totally in love with him over three months, and I even asked Glinda if there was any way to turn him back into a human. Elphaba had given her the spellbook, which was called the Grimmerie, and Glinda was learning to read it. I had told her about the dating.

"Well, there is a spell I've been able to read which seems to be able to turn an inanimate object into a fully restored human, but I'm not sure if it will work, since you can't reverse spells." she told me.

"I don't care." I said. "If it has a chance to turn him back, I'm taking it. I have talked about it with him, and we've decided that as long as he's tin, a full relationship isn't really an option. Either we just date like we have for three months, or we try this."

I texted Boq, telling him of what had passed, and he texted back to say was it OK with if she cast the spell that evening?

"Well, I might as well get it done." Glinda said when I asked her. "Tell him yes."

So at seven that evening, all three of us were in Glinda's mansion, Glinda holding the Grimmerie. She chanted from it, and it reminded me so much of Elphaba when she cast spells that tears pricked at my eyes.

Slowly swirls of a grey substance, like mist, covered the form of the tin-made man I loved. In less than thirty seconds, the mist cleared, and the old Boq was left. I knew he was the Munchkin I remembered, but when I looked at him, I saw he was a few inches taller, like he was when he was made of tin. In fact, he was taller than me, which he hadn't been before.

I found my voice. "Boq?" I whispered.

He slowly stood up. "Autumn..." he whispered. Cue romantic scene where the couple run to each other and the guy spins the girl around in the air. No seriously, Boq and I ran to each other and he spun me around in the air. I kissed him the minute he set me down.

I gave Glinda a hug. "Thank you, Glinda!"

My blonde friend gave a little laugh, for the first time since Elphaba's death. "Happy to help." she said. "Now play safe, all right?"

"This girl couldn't be any safer." Boq teased. With that, we left Glinda's mansion, and I never went back there to live again.

**Well, an epilogue, and then that'll be the end!**


	13. Epilogue: Remember

***Sobs* Oh, I can't believe I'm at the end now. Well, enjoy, I guess. And thanks for reviewing, James Birdsong, CharlotteandRashka and Shockheaded Peter's Sister.**

We went back to Munchkinland. Nessa's will had been found. She'd left the house to me, and - get this - her shoes were actually meant to go to Elphaba! When I found that out, I cursed that silly little girl by the name of Dorothy, then wished I could tell Elphaba.

So Boq and I resettled in the house where Nessa had lived with us, and I was now the Governor. We refurnished the house, so it didn't bring back the worst of memories. Nessa had always had dark colours in the furniture; black and red. I took it upon myself to change the colours to sky blues and deep purples.

We did get married. It would have been a modest occasion if I hadn't told Glinda, who insisted on helping organize it. I remembered the days at Shiz, back when Glinda was Galinda. The bubbly popular girl in her late teens still lived on in Glinda, and by her organizing the wedding, not to mention the fashion of my bride's dress, I could see that. Her enthusiasm was one of the most prominent features I remembered from Galinda, and I was amused to find that she still squealed when she was excited!

"How old are you?" I had teased her. "Fifteen?"

"Does the fact that I'm twenty-seven mean I'm not allowed to be excited about organizing my friend's wedding?" the blonde grinned.

"Got me there." I sighed with a giggle.

It's been five years since I got married to Boq, and I'm thirty years old now. I still keep in touch with Glinda, and her life seems to be going pretty well. But I still often think about those days back at Shiz, and how happy we were, especially those days before Elphaba and Glinda left for the Emerald City. I remember the way I had to fight not to blush when Fiyero said I was doing the 'right' type of studying that first day we met. Subsequent episodes when he actually did bother to talk to me happened in a similar way.

Most of all, I remember my sisters. I'm reminded of Nessa every time I look in the mirror or go to her grave. I remember the way her eyes used to sparkle when she was happy at Shiz, and (though I wish I didn't) the crazed look she had when she was the Governor, enforcing cruel rules. She changed my life, and I found that I actually had to look after her as she got older.

I miss Elphaba just as much. Now, when I look back on it, I realize how much she meant. She changed my life, every bit as much as Nessa did. Even now, the spell that she cast still enables me to walk without the help of crutches.

But still, my life isn't bad. The courses of direction I took were pretty good, and Boq's the sweetest guy I could ask for under the circumstances. If I could go back to my first day at Shiz, I don't think I would've changed anything. Maybe I would've tried to be a little nicer to the snob Galinda Upland that I remember before that night at the Ozdust. But everything else would stay the same. Because, while my life may not be perfect, I like it, and I'm living it.

Ozspeed, my readers.

All my love,

Autumn Persephone Monsoon xoxoxox

**Well, that's the end. Big thanks to all my reviewers and supporters.**

**Disclaimer:**

**Me: Hey, what happened to the disclaimer? Did someone take it?**

**Autumn: Only if it's someone from your other stories in progress.**

**Nessa: Is that Carmen in the distance?**

**Me: I better tell Pixie her mom's out of jail, again. In the meantime, I do not own anything from_ Wicked_. I do, however, own Autumn. And yeah, do check out my other stories, including _Enchanting Pixie. _(If you do read it, there's a poll on my profile of what I should put more of in, so I'd love you to vote on that.)**

**Bye! xxx**


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